Terrorism eyed after driver rams into pedestrian in Philadelphia

Terrorism was being eyed as a possible motive after a human in a black Honda made a pedestrian Monday morning in Philadelphia, severely injuring person or persons before being shooting in the head by an off-duty policeman, officers said.

The 31 -year-old driver, who wasn’t immediately identified, was prounced dead at 10:15 a.m. at a hospital, police said. The driver was initially in “extremely critical condition” after the incident.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. said at a news conference Monday evening that while initial reports said the driver attempted to hit multiple people with his vehicle, police have been “unable to confirm that he was trying to strike several people.”

Ross said he doesn’t believe the driver was armed.

“Anytime someone is trying to run people over we got to look at that slant and assure what the investigation leads us, ” a police spokesman earlier said. Authorities said they were reviewing videos of the incident and looking for more witnesses for additional information.

The police officer, a detective who hasn’t been named, will be placed on administrative obligations pending an investigation, the commissioner said. The policeman suffered minor injuries in the incident and had now been been released from the hospital

Police were alerted about 7:30 a.m. to a reckless driver. The driver struck one person, who then flipped onto the hood of his car.

Ross said he was concerned with the number of shots the detective fired.

The off-duty policeman happened to be in the area when the commotion happened and intervened. The driver “immediately gets aggressive against the off-duty officer” which inspired the cop to fire his service weapon, Philadelphia Police Captain Sekou Kinebrew said.